Xi's upcoming visit to three countries

President Xi Jinping will start an eight-day trip to Serbia, Poland and Uzbekistan on Friday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said on Monday.

During the trip, Xi will also attend the Meeting of the Council of the Heads of the Member States of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization to be held in Tashkent on June 23-24.

Xi's visit to Serbia is the first of its kind by a Chinese head of state since Serbia's independence in June 2006. In August 2013, Xi held talks with visiting Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic in Beijing where the two presidents exchanged in-depth views on cooperation.

Serbia has enjoyed a profound traditional friendship with China and has played a decisive role in China-Central and East European relations. In August 2009, China and Serbia issued a joint statement, announcing the establishment of a strategic partnership, making Serbia the first CEE country to do so with China.

On June 6, China and Serbia signed a memorandum of understanding between relevant institutions dealing with cultural trade research during the first China-CEE cultural and creative industry forum.

Xi's visit to Poland is his first trip as president to the largest country in the CEE region. The last state visit by a Chinese head of state to Poland was paid by the then president Hu Jintao in 2004.

In November last year, Polish President Andrzej Duda paid a state visit to China, during which Xi announced that China will explore a new logistics corridor to reach Central and Eastern Europe through Poland.

Poland is China's largest trading partner in Central and Eastern Europe, while China is Poland's third-largest supplier of imports.

China is willing to work with Uzbekistan to boost their strategic partnership and open up new prospects for mutually beneficial cooperation, Foreign Minister Wang Yi said while visiting Uzbekistan on May 23.

During a meeting with Uzbek President Islam Karimov, Wang said bilateral relations have made significant progress since the establishment of the strategic partnership between the two countries.

This year marks the 15th anniversary of the founding of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), he said, adding that China will fully support Uzbekistan in hosting an upcoming SCO summit in its capital city of Tashkent and push forward security and economic cooperation for new achievements.

For his part, Karimov said he is looking forward to the Chinese president's attendance at the Tashkent summit.

Uzbekistan is ready to work with China to further promote the two countries' strategic partnership, strengthen all-round mutually beneficial cooperation, and advance the SCO's new development, he said.

Contact the writer at anbaijie@chinadaily.com.cn.